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🧠Opening Reflection:
For most families, survival is measured not in theory but in the grocery cart. That total at checkout decides whether a household rests easy or trims back elsewhere. Over the past two years, the basket has grown heavier, not through indulgence but through the combined force of economic currents that few can escape.
The first current is national. Food prices climbed in the wake of the pandemic, as supply chains buckled and fuel costs rippled through distribution. What once seemed stable—the cost of milk, bread, eggs—now swings unpredictably. Inflation eased for some goods, but groceries remained stubborn, forcing families to pay more for the same table they set five years ago.
The second current is local. Hickory has long tied its culture to food—church suppers, barbecue traditions, and Sunday tables that once stretched modest paychecks into shared abundance. Yet those traditions sit uneasily against present costs. Food pantries in the county now serve record numbers, and neighborhoods like Long View and Ridgeview face limited access to full-service groceries. A meal that was once an anchor of fellowship has become, for many, an exercise in arithmetic.
The third current is income. According to the ALICE report, 41 percent of households in Catawba County live below the level needed to afford basics, food among them. These are not the idle or unemployed but the working families who make the community run. Their wages lag, their expenses climb, and every grocery trip demands trade-offs: fruit or medicine, fresh produce or the gas to get to work.
The final current is health. When money is short, cheaper calories crowd out nutrition. Processed food and fast meals fill the gaps, but over time they exact their price in obesity, diabetes, and heart strain. Catawba County’s Community Health Assessment confirms what residents already know: cost is the barrier to healthy eating, and health itself bends under that weight.
Together, these forces form another gear train. National inflation lifts prices; local access constrains options; modest wages squeeze budgets; and health deteriorates under the pressure. Families who once relied on the table for comfort now weigh every purchase against the risk of hunger, debt, or illness.
This week’s Feature introduces the ALICE report as a lens on food insecurity and health in Hickory. It measures what it means, in concrete terms, for a household to shoulder the cost of the table in 2023, and how those costs reach beyond the grocery aisle into schools, clinics, and neighborhoods. It translates statistics into the arithmetic of the dinner plate and the choices of a paycheck.
If the community wishes to preserve its dignity, it must either lighten the basket or strengthen the income. Without that adjustment, the table—once a place of plenty—will become, for too many, a measure of absence.
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📤This Week:
Monday - (Substack) - The Foothills Corridor - Chapter 20: Metrics that Matter: Measuring Real Change - For
the Foothills Corridor, where energy is precious and attention is
scattered, having the right metrics is not just a bureaucratic exercise.
It’s a strategic imperative.
Tuesday - 🌐⭐ Hickory at the Crossroads: AI, Data, and the Fight for Our Future ⭐️🌐 - The
question is whether Hickory will once again drift into decline, or
whether we will build the civic architecture to seize a future that
rewards us, not bypasses us.
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📤Next Week:
Monday - (Substack) - Part VI - the Narrative & Chapter 22: Branding the Corridor - The Foothills Corridor has long been misunderstood—by outsiders, by media, and sometimes even by itself. Branded as past tense. Talked about as if decline were destiny. Seen through the lens of what left, not what’s being built... The Foothills Corridor doesn’t need a slick rebrand—it needs a story that reflects its truth. For too long, the narrative around this region has been shaped by outsiders: developers pitching lifestyle fantasy, politicians romanticizing the past, or marketers slapping on slogans that sound nice but say nothing.
Tuesday - Dear Rachel – Episode 8: Recovery, Redemption, Risk - The eighth episode of Dear Rachel
turns to lives lived at the edge of stability: the recovering addict,
the immigrant worker, and the LGBTQ+ neighbor. Together, their voices
highlight how survival, identity, and belonging intersect in the Shrinking Center.
Yet this episode also acknowledges the other side of the public debate:
the desire for boundaries, for balance, for a civic life where
tolerance does not spill into capitulation.
Thursday - 🧱Factions of Self‑Preservation 7: Fading from the Map - How Cultural Amnesia Is Quietly Undermining Hickory’s Civic Future - When churches close, libraries move,
and local storytellers vanish—Hickory loses its memory, allowing its identity
to slip away.
Friday - (Substack) - The Foothills Corridor - Chapter 23: Making the Case to Funders, Investors, and Talent - For the Foothills Corridor to complete its transformation, it must do more than survive—it must attract belief from those who have the power to amplify what’s working. That means making a compelling, confident, and unapologetically local case to funders, investors, and mobile talent who are deciding where to place their money, their energy, or their lives.
⭐ Feature Story ⭐
The Cost of the Table: ALICE and Community Health in Hickory and Catawba County
ALICE: Financial Hardship in Hickory and Catawba County
Many households in Hickory and greater Catawba County struggle to afford the basics needed for a modest life. The United Way uses the term ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) to describe working households who earn above the Federal Poverty Level but still cannot afford the cost of living in their community[1].
In Catawba County, the latest 2023 ALICE report shows that 29% of households are ALICE (income above poverty but below the survival budget), in addition to 12% of households in official poverty[2]. This means that 41% of all households (over 28,000 households) in the county are below the ALICE Threshold, unable to afford essentials like housing, food, child care, health care, transportation, and technology[3][4]. These families routinely face impossible trade-offs – for example, deciding whether to pay for groceries or a medical bill – just to make ends meet[5][6].
This financial hardship is not limited to a few isolated areas; it is pervasive throughout the county, including Hickory. In the city of Hickory, roughly 42% of the 17,300 households were below the ALICE Threshold as of 2023[7]. Other communities face similar or even greater challenges – for instance, in the small town of Long View (just west of Hickory), about 60% of households struggle to afford basic needs[8]. Even in Newton and Conover, two other Catawba County cities, around 45% of households are below the ALICE survival income level[7]. Clearly, a large share of local families – including many who are employed – live on the brink of financial insecurity.
The trend over time underscores how widespread this issue has become. Back in 2010, Catawba County had around 59,000 total households; by 2023 that grew to 68,000, and the number below the ALICE Threshold also rose[9][10]. The COVID-19 pandemic initially created economic turbulence – wages increased for some jobs, but so did inflation and household expenses – and by 2022 the proportion of households struggling financially had reached 41%, about the same as in 2023[11][12]. In short, roughly two out of every five families in our community cannot afford the cost of living, a situation that has persisted even as the economy recovered from the pandemic.
The Cost of Living Outpaces Wages
Why are so many working families struggling? A major factor is that the cost of basic necessities has outpaced wage growth[13]. United Way’s analysis calculates a Household Survival Budget for each county – the bare-minimum monthly costs for housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, technology (basic smartphone plan), plus taxes and a small contingency for misc. expenses[14][15]. This budget does not include any savings or extras – it’s essentially the “cost of the table,” i.e. the cost to put food on the table and cover other essentials, with nothing left for emergencies or future goals[16].
In Catawba County, the survival budget is eye-opening. For a single adult, the minimum budget in 2023 was about $2,409 per month (approximately $28,900 per year)[17][18]. For a family of four (for example, two working adults with an infant and a preschooler), it was roughly $6,759 per month, which is about $81,100 per year[17][18]. To put this in perspective, a Catawba County family of four needs an hourly wage of about $40.55 (if two adults are working full-time) just to afford this no-frills budget[19]. Even a single adult needs about $14.45 per hour full-time to meet basic expenses on their own[20][18]. These required wages are far above the federal minimum wage and well above the Federal Poverty Level. (In 2023 the poverty guideline was only $14,580/year for an individual and $30,000 for a family of four, which is less than half of what it actually costs to live here[21].)
Local incomes have not kept up with these costs. Catawba’s median household income is around $64,200, which actually falls below the North Carolina state median[22]. Many jobs simply do not pay enough to cover the survival budget. Statewide data shows that 15 of the 20 most common occupations in North Carolina paid under $20 per hour in 2023, and over one-third (35%) of workers in those common jobs lived in households below the ALICE Threshold[23]. These are jobs that we all depend on – cashiers, child-care providers, food service workers, home health aides, retail salespersons, and others – yet the people working them often cannot afford the basic cost of living in their communities[6]. In short, the cost of basics has been rising faster than wages, squeezing household budgets and leaving tens of thousands of Catawba County families one unexpected expense away from crisis[13][5].
Financial Insecurity in a Statewide Context
Catawba County’s situation fits into a broader pattern seen across North Carolina. According to the State of ALICE 2025 report, about 42% of all North Carolina households had incomes below the ALICE Threshold in 2023, once again combining those in poverty (13%) and ALICE (29%)[24]. So in terms of percentage, Catawba’s 41% is roughly on par with the state average. Across North Carolina, that translates to millions of households living paycheck-to-paycheck, juggling expenses, and making difficult choices to get by[5]. Basic costs in North Carolina vary by county, but on average the annual Household Survival Budget for the state is estimated at about $30,300 for a single adult and $80,200 for a family of four – very similar to Catawba’s budget, and more than double the official poverty levels[25].
This widespread financial insecurity has profound implications. When 4 in 10 households lack financial stability, it affects local economies and quality of life in every community. As the United Way of NC notes, ALICE families are working hard in critical roles that keep the economy running, yet they remain one emergency away from hardship[6]. Their struggles highlight systemic issues like the lack of affordable child care, expensive housing, and jobs that don’t pay a living wage. Statewide initiatives have pointed out that policies such as higher minimum wages, stronger worker protections, and public investments in necessities (e.g. making child care and housing more affordable) are needed to help these families achieve stability[26][27].
It’s also important to recognize the unequal distribution of hardship among different groups. ALICE data shows that while numerically the largest racial/ethnic groups contribute the most households below the threshold, proportionally certain groups face higher rates of financial hardship[28]. Systemic barriers mean that communities of color, single-parent families, and other vulnerable groups are often over-represented among those struggling. For example, in Catawba County, Black and Latino residents experience food insecurity at significantly higher rates than white residents (around 20–22% for Black and Hispanic populations, compared to about 11–12% overall)[29][30]. Yet paradoxically, those same groups have lower participation in assistance programs like SNAP, due to barriers and stigma[31][32]. Such disparities show that addressing “the cost of the table” is not just an economic issue but also one of equity and access.
Community Health Impacts and Priorities
Financial stress and the high cost of living don’t just affect wallets – they also impact health and well-being. Catawba County’s 2023 Community Health Assessment (CHA) process made clear that economic challenges are deeply intertwined with health outcomes. During the CHA, residents voiced concerns about “the cost of living” and “access to healthy, affordable food,” among other issues like housing and mental health[33][34]. In fact, when surveyed, 19% of Catawba County respondents specifically said that access to healthy, affordable food should be a top community focus to improve health and quality of life[35]. This comes as no surprise – a family’s ability to put nutritious food on the table is directly tied to their income and expenses. The assessment noted that cost was the number one barrier to healthy eating for local families[36]. Simply put, when budgets are tight, cheaper, less healthy options often win out, and many households may skip meals or rely on food pantries to get by.
Food insecurity remains a persistent problem in the area. As of 2021, around 12% of Catawba County’s population experienced food insecurity, a rate slightly higher than the state average (~11.8%)[29]. Children are especially vulnerable – about 13.8% of Catawba’s children were food-insecure, though this was somewhat better than the 15.4% statewide child food insecurity rate[29][37]. Other data reveal how widespread the need is: about 67% of students across all three school districts in the county are economically disadvantaged and qualify for free school meals[38]. Moreover, in certain neighborhoods of Hickory and surrounding towns – for example, parts of Long View, Ridgeview, Southeast Hickory, and East Newton – many residents have limited access to grocery stores or healthy food within their vicinity, compounding the problem[39][40]. (In 2019, roughly 1 in 10 Catawba residents faced this geographic barrier to food access in addition to financial barriers[39].) Programs like SNAP (food stamps) help thousands of families – nearly 24,000 people in Catawba County(about 15% of the population) receive SNAP benefits – but those benefits amount to only about $5.94 per person per day, and not everyone who needs help is accessing the program[41][31].
Recognizing these challenges, Catawba County Public Health and its partners have set strategic priorities to improve community health over the next several years. Based on a year-long assessment of data and community input, the top three health priorities identified in the 2023 CHA are:
- 1) Access to healthy foods,
- 2) “Brain health” (mental health)
- 3) Ensuring safe, engaging, and active community spaces[42][43].
All three are interrelated and “cross-cutting,” meaning progress in one area can support improvements in others. For instance, by increasing access to healthy foods, we not only address nutrition and hunger but also support better chronic disease outcomes and even mental well-being. Indeed, Catawba County has kept access to healthy food as a priority for many years, and while there has been encouraging progress, much more work remains to be done[44]. The renewed focus on “brain health” continues what was previously termed mental health – acknowledging the toll that stress, isolation, and other factors have on residents’ emotional well-being[45][46]. This was heightened by the pandemic: fewer than half of survey respondents in 2023 reported feeling connected to their community, and only about half felt a sense of belonging, highlighting a concerning level of social isolation[47].
Finally, the emphasis on safe and engaging spaces is about creating environments (parks, community centers, neighborhoods) that foster connection, physical activity, and safety. Such spaces can mitigate isolation and improve quality of life, especially in areas lacking infrastructure or facing higher crime. They give all residents – regardless of income – a chance to be active and connected in the community[47][48].
These health priorities are directly influenced by the economic realities we’ve discussed. Improving access to healthy food, for example, will require tackling affordability and poverty so that every family can consistently put nutritious food on the table. Efforts are underway, from supporting local food pantries and farmers markets in low-income areas to nutrition education programs. Addressing mental “brain” health also means recognizing the chronic stress many ALICE families live with; financial insecurity is a well-known contributor to anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. Expanding affordable counseling services, support groups, and stress-reduction programs can particularly help those facing economic strain. And making community spaces more accessible and safe often involves investing in underserved neighborhoods – improving housing, transportation, parks, and safety in the very areas where ALICE households are concentrated.
Catawba County’s public health leaders note that these priorities will guide a Community Health Improvement Plan for 2024–2027, with specific action plans in development[49]. The LiveWell Catawba coalition and other partners are coming together to implement strategies around these issues[50]. By focusing on fundamental needs – food, mental health, and community infrastructure – the county hopes to make tangible improvements that lift up those who have been struggling. The ultimate goal is to ensure that every family in Hickory and Catawba County can afford the “cost of the table” – not only putting food on the table, but doing so in a way that supports a healthy, connected life.
References (Hyperlinked)
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Executive Summary — The Cost of the Table Market Basket (1975–2025)
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My Own Time Ω
The Measure of a Meal
Food
has always been my background. I’ve spent forty years in professional
kitchens, and while some people credit me as a chef, fewer see how that
experience connects to the wider issues of economics, culture, and
community. That’s fine. In your own hometown, as Scripture says, it’s
hard to be recognized beyond the role people assign to you. But food
teaches lessons no classroom can, and those lessons matter now more than
ever.
I
grew up in a house where food was more than fuel. It was Sunday
dinners, Christmas reunions, Friday nights out as a family, backyard
barbecues, and the quiet assurance that, however rough the economy
looked outside, the table inside would hold steady. My grandparents
carried Depression lessons into every dish. We always had a
garden—tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, beans—and my grandfather brought
apples from Brushy Mountain and treats from Biltmore, tying work and community into the rhythm of meals. Food was business, but it was also culture, continuity, and care.
Looking
back, maybe some of that is nostalgia. Yet it did feel like food was
better then. Today, we have more choices through global trade, but
freshness and quality are often sacrificed to scale and speed. Small
farms have been displaced by conglomerates; chickens, pork, and beef are
mass-produced; even “seafood” is often factory-grown in ponds. Food has
become a business of convenience, rushed from farm to truck to shelf,
and we all rush alongside it—eating in cars, at desks, or on the go.
When
I walk through a grocery store now, I see numbers my grandparents never
imagined. I remember glass-bottle Cokes with pure cane sugar for a
quarter. Milk would be far higher than three dollars if not for
subsidies. Corn at three ears for a dollar is no bargain when the taste
has been engineered out of it. Chicken costs more than steak once did.
Fresh produce, when it’s available, carries a premium that forces
parents into impossible choices in front of their children.
The
ALICE report makes this clear: 41 percent of households in Catawba
County cannot afford the basics, food included. That’s not an
abstraction. It plays out in checkout lines, in food pantry traffic, and
in the quiet math families work out every week. We pride ourselves on
resilience, but resilience cannot erase arithmetic.
Food sustains life, but it also defines identity. Barbecue came here by way of the West Indies, corn from Central America,
pigs and spices from across the seas. Locally, we adapted those
traditions to our own soil and culture. The smell of smoke on a
Saturday, casseroles carried to neighbors in grief, gardens turned over
each spring—these are more than meals. They are rituals of belonging.
But
they are rituals under pressure. Rising costs, stagnant wages, and
processed substitutes threaten not just nutrition, but memory, health,
and continuity. If the basket becomes too heavy, what is at stake is
nothing less than culture, tradition, and community itself.
That
is why I believe we must protect the table as carefully as we guard the
roof overhead. Housing, food, and energy are not separate stories; they
are entries in the same ledger of survival. And if Hickory hopes to
hold its middle together, it must reckon with what it truly costs for
ordinary people to live—not just to scrape by, but to find meaning here.
Because if we cannot have a meaningful life at the table, then sooner
or later, people will move on.
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🍂 Haiku
Harvest rushed to shelf,
prices climb and flavor fades,
taste slain by profit.
🥠 Fortune Cookie Reading
“The cost of your meal is the measure of your future—guard the table, and you guard the soul of your community.”
